The is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan open to thoroughbreds which are three-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 1,200 metres (approximately 6 furlongs) at Nakayama Racecourse, and it takes place annually in late September or early October.
It was first run in 1967, and was given Domestic Grade 3 status when race grading was introduced to Japan in 1984. This was elevated to Domestic Grade 2 in 1987, Domestic Grade 1 in 1990, and to its present level in 2006. Horses trained outside Japan have been eligible to run in the race since 1994. Prior to 2000 the race was run in December, the week before the Arima Kinen (Grand Prix).
It is now the seventh leg in the ten-race Global Sprint Challenge series, preceded by the July Cup in Britain and followed by The Age Classic in Australia.
The 2014 running of the Sprinters Stakes was held at Niigata Racecourse, since Nakayama Racecourse was closed for renovations to the grandstand. The race was previously held in Niigata in 2002.
Trial races Trial races provide automatic berths to the winning horses. RaceGradeRacecourseDistanceConditionKeeneland CupGIIISapporo1,200 metresWinnerCentaur StakesGIIHanshin1,200 metresWinner
Records Speed record: 1.06.7 – Lord Kanaloa (2012)
Most wins by a horse (2): Lord Kanaloa (2012, 2013) Red Falx (2016, 2017) Meiwa Kimiko (1977, 1978) Sakura Bakushin O (1993, 1994) Sakura Iwai (1974, 1975)
Most wins by a jockey (5): Futoshi Kojima (1974, 1975, 1980, 1993, 1994)
Most wins by a trainer (4): Katsutaro Sakai (1973, 1981, 1993, 1994)
Most wins by an owner (6): Sakura Commerce (1974, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1993, 1994)
Winners since 1990 Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Time 1990 Bamboo Memory 5 Yutaka Take Kunihiko Take Shinichi Takeda 1:07.8 1991 Daiichi Ruby 4 Hiroshi Kawachi Yuji Ito Haruo Tsujimoto 1:07.6 1992 Nishino Flower 3 Hiroshi Kawachi Masahiro Matsuda Masayuki Nishiyama 1:07.7 1993 Sakura Bakushin O 4 Futoshi Kojima Katsutaro Sakai Sakura Commerce 1:07.9 1994 Sakura Bakushin O 5 Futoshi Kojima Katsutaro Sakai Sakura Commerce 1:07.1 1995 Hishi Akebono 3 Koichi Tsunoda Masaru Sayama Masaichiro Abe 1:08.1 1996 Flower Park 4 Seiki Tabara Shouichi Matsumoto Katsumi Yoshida 1:08.8 1997 Taiki Shuttle 3 Yukio Okabe Kazuo Fujisawa Taiki Farm Co. 1:07.8 1998 Meiner Love 3 Yutaka Yoshida Ryuichi Inaba Thoroughbred Club Ruffian 1:08.6 1999 Black Hawk 5 Norihiro Yokoyama Sakae Kunieda Makoto Kaneko 1:08.2 2000 Daitaku Yamato 6 Teruo Eda Sei Ishizaka Kazuo Nakamura 1:08.6 2001 Trot Star 5 Masayoshi Ebina Eiji Nakano Minoru Takano 1:07.0 2002 Believe 4 Yutaka Take Shigeki Matsumoto Koji Maeda 1:07.7 2003 Durandal 4 Kenichi Ikezoe Masahiro Sakaguchi Teruya Yoshida 1:08.0 2004 Calstone Light O 6 Naohiro Onishi Hiroyuki Oneda Sadamitsu Shimizu 1:09.9 2005 Silent Witness 6 Felix Coetzee Tony Cruz Archie & Betty da Silva 1:07.3 2006 Takeover Target 7 Jay Ford Joe Janiak Joe & Ben Janiak 1:08.1 2007 Aston Machan 3 Eiji Nakadate Sei Ishizaka Mayumi Tosa 1:09.4 2008 Sleepless Night 4 Hiroyuki Uemura Kojiro Hashiguchi Sunday Racing 1:08.0 2009 Laurel Guerreiro 5 Shinji Fujita Mitsugu Kon Laurel Racing 1:07.5 2010 Ultra Fantasy 8 Alex Lai Hoi-wing Ricky Yiu Poon-fai The Hon T F Lam 1:07.4 2011 Curren Chan 4 Kenichi Ikezoe Takayuki Yasuda Takashi Suzuki 1:07.4 2012 Lord Kanaloa 4 Yasunari Iwata Takayuki Yasuda Lord Horse Club 1:06.7 2013 Lord Kanaloa 5 Yasunari Iwata Takayuki Yasuda Lord Horse Club 1:07.2 2014 Snow Dragon 6 Takuya Ono Noboru Takagi Makio Okada 1:08.8 2015 Straight Girl 6 Keita Tosaki Hideaki Fujiwara Hirosaki Toshihiro Hd Co Ltd 1:08.1 2016 Red Falx 5 Mirco Demuro Tomohito Ozeki Tokyo Horse Racing Co. Ltd 1:07.6 2017 Red Falx 6 Mirco Demuro Tomohito Ozeki Tokyo Horse Racing Co. Ltd 1:07.6 2018 Fine Needle 5 Yuga Kawada Yoshitada Takahashi Godolphin 1:08.3 2019 Tower Of London 4 Christophe Lemaire Kazuo Fujisawa Godolphin 1:07.1 2020 Gran Alegria 4 Christophe Lemaire Kazuo Fujisawa Sunday Racing 1:08.3 2021 Pixie Knight 3 Yuichi Fukunaga Hidetaka Otonashi Silk Racing 1:07.1 2022 Gendarme 7 Kiwamu Ogino Yasutoshi Ikee Koji Maeda 1:07.8 2023 Mama Cocha 4 Yuga Kawada Yasutoshi Ikee Kaneko Makoto Holdings 1:08.02024Lugal4Atsuya NishimuraHaruki SugiyamaYoshimasa Ema1:07.02025Win Carnelian8Kousei MiuraYuichi ShikatoWin Co. Ltd.1:06.92026Puro Magic 5Mirai IwataShogo YasudaThree H Racing Co. Ltd.1:09.2
The 2002 and 2014 race took place at Niigata Racecourse.
Past winners
1967 - Onward Hill 1968 - Suzu Hayate 1969 - Takeshiba O 1970 - Tamami 1971 - Kensachi 1972 - Noboru Toko 1973 - Kyoei Green 1974 - Sakura Iwai 1975 - Sakura Iwai 1976 - Jumbo King 1977 - Meiwa Kimiko 1978 - Meiwa Kimiko 1979 - Sunny Flower 1980 - Sakura God 1981 - Sakura Shingeki 1982 - Brocade 1983 - Shin Wolf 1984 - Happy Progress 1985 - Marutaka Storm 1986 - Dokan Tesco 1987 - King Frolic 1988 - Dyna Actress 1989 - Winning Smile
See also Horse racing in Japan List of Japanese flat horse races
References Netkeiba: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Racing Post: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
External links Horse Racing in Japan Centaur Stakes and Sprinters Stakes